Niall Ferguson, the prominent British historian, has left his role with a Stanford university free speech initiative after leaked emails showed him suggesting "opposition research" be carried out on a left-wing student.
Ferguson resigned from a leadership position on the Cardinal Conversations programme at at the institution in California, which invites guest speakers from across the political spectrum to give talks.
The academic said he had made an "error of judgment" but had been "deeply concerned" by the reaction on campus against a talk by Charles Murray, the controversial social scientist, who spoke on February 22.
Ferguson resigned from a leadership position on the Cardinal Conversations programme at at the institution in California, which invites guest speakers from across the political spectrum to give talks.
The academic said he had made an "error of judgment" but had been "deeply concerned" by the reaction on campus against a talk by Charles Murray, the controversial social scientist, who spoke on February 22.